In the prior art, an undersea lightwave cable splice housing includes a fiber coil chamber, which allows for fiber retraction and extension caused by cable tensioning and release. Fiber movement in the splice housing has been estimated to be as much as four inches over a long term. Space in the prior art fiber coil chamber limits fiber retraction to one and two-tenths inches. When retraction exceeds that limit, the fiber coil chamber acts as a capstan and limits further retraction.
The prior art undersea lightwave cable splice housing has been criticized for being too large for convenient handling during cable laying and recovery operations from shipboard. It is desirable to replace the prior art splice housing with a new smaller design. The smaller design will eliminate the fiber coil chamber from the splice housing.
A new fiber anchoring arrangment is needed for eliminating extension and retraction of the fiber in the new smaller splice housing without adding optical loss to the fiber.